This guidebook is intended for decision makers and technical advisors involved in the development of national monitoring and evaluation (M&E) systems for adaptation, particularly in developing and middle-income countries.

Its objective is to guide decision making regarding the purpose, design, operationalization, and use of results of an appropriate system for national M&E of adaptation. Given its close linkages with the broader development and M&E context in a given country, the guidebook recognizes that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to national M&E of adaptation: Experience shows that decision makers in different countries have chosen very different approaches depending on the specific context.

This guidebook therefore leads the reader through a series of questions for consideration, responses to which will provide a basis for identifying practical steps towards the adoption of a national adaptation M&E system that best suits a given country. These questions for consideration are divided into four interrelated building blocks related to understanding the context of the M&E system, identifying the content to monitor, designing a process for operationalization, and deciding how to present results through products that will respond to the purpose of the M&E system.